title: Reduced plasma total antioxidant status in first-episode drug-naive patients with schizophrenia.
abstract: Excessive free radical production leading to oxidative stress may be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Determination of total antioxidant status (TAS) provides an index of the sum of activities of all antioxidants. However, there have been few systematic studies to examine the relationship between TAS levels and psychopathology in first-episode and drug-naive patients with schizophrenia. TAS levels were determined in the plasma of 60 never-medicated first-episode patients with schizophrenia and 68 healthy control subjects. The schizophrenia symptomatology and the depressive symptoms were assessed by the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) and the Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAMD). The results showed that TAS levels were significantly lower in first-episode patients with schizophrenia than in healthy control subjects (159.8 ± 45.8 U/ml vs 211.4 ± 46.8 U/ml, F=39.5, df=1, 126, p < 0.001). A trend toward significant inverse correlation between TAS levels and PANSS negative subscore was observed (r = 0.25, df=60, p = 0.06). Our results suggest that oxidative stress occurs in an early course of schizophrenia and may have an important role in pathogenesis and perhaps, negative symptomatology of schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: College of Chinese Medicinal Material, Jilin Agricultural University, ChangChun, China.
authors.forename: Xue Feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: You Lan
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Mei Hong
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Xiu
authors.forename: Da Chun
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Kosten
authors.forename: Xiang Yang
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism*; D044466:Asian People; D015992:Body Mass Index; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000378:metabolism*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012907:Smoking / Q000378:metabolism; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants